S.J. General close to replacing sterilizing system

STOCKTON - Construction has begun at San Joaquin General Hospital to install new sterilization equipment that, when completed, will end a state of emergency declared by county officials eight months ago.

STOCKTON - Construction has begun at San Joaquin General Hospital to install new sterilization equipment that, when completed, will end a state of emergency declared by county officials eight months ago.

More of a technical emergency than a threat to public health, the declaration helped the county to speed up the process to replace the aging equipment used for the critical step of sterilizing instruments used in surgery. The old equipment was prone to failure and frequent repair. The equipment that used to be able to sterilize equipment on 45-minute cycles were taking two hours to perform the same task, according to the hospital.

But San Joaquin General had backup plans and promised help from another hospital to keep instruments sterile, so the biggest impact hospital officials were worried about during the "emergency" was postponement of non-emergency surgeries.

And even that didn't happen, said David Culberson, chief executive officer of San Joaquin General.

"We had the appropriate instruments in the inventory ready to roll at all times," he said.

The cost to buy and install new equipment came in at $246,051. The state approved the building plans submitted by Triamid, the contractor, in March and issued a permit to build in April. The equipment itself comes from Belimed Inc.

Construction began at the end of April.

On Thursday, Culberson said contractors were waiting to test the strength of newly poured concrete before hooking up the equipment.

When that is done, possibly before the end of the month, the emergency will end.

It has been the most frequently reoccurring - if not the most significant - issue considered by county decisionmakers in the past year.

The seemingly minor emergency has gone before the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors for a vote more than any other issue since the elected body first declared the emergency in September.

Each new declaration of emergency would usually pass without discussion on the "consent agenda" of routine issues.

But it drew some light-hearted discussion about its ubiquity on the roster of county business at an April meeting.

The law requires the declaration every two weeks, but the emergency can end after it is finally installed, County Counsel David Wooten said at the meeting.

"Thank God. We are all ready for this," Supervisor Larry Ruhstaller said.

"There is light at the end of the tunnel," board Chairman Ken Vogel added.